Greetings from Tru LUVIN fishing and Hagan Coastal Outfitters. This blog provides you with a front row seat to what Domenic and Ron are seeing on the water in Northeast Florida from our kayaks, as we chase inshore saltwater species, primarily using artificial lures. From time to time we will include bonus reports from fishing trips around the region as we travel. We want to keep you informed of what is biting, what lures are working for us and what gear has been helping us get on the fish.
Overall Fishing Report
August was a hot and stormy month. The fish still had to eat but we had to change our tactics a bit. Pre-trip planning was essential to avoid getting caught by August thunderstorms in compromising positions on the water. We had a couple of trips cut short by storms this month. Lightning strikes are a deadly threat in Florida and there is nowhere to hide when you are on a kayak on the water. Seeking shelter in nearby trees, off of the water, also carries significant risk. Although it is disappointing to leave the fish biting, it is always the right call to get off the water as storm cells emerge.
Fishing in our favorite North Jacksonville creek systems slowed a bit with the intense heat and storms of August, so we changed our routine a bit to stay on the fish. We switched back to some of the familiar waters from our successful spring trips and found plenty of quality fish to make our trips worthwhile. Bigger Reds were a little harder to come by, but the gator Trout came out to play and made up for it this month. The Flounder bite continued to be strong in the creeks and river.
Tactics That Are Working
Fishing docks in the heat of summer can pay dividends as large fish move under docks to escape the intense summer sunlight and feed on the smaller bait that also seeks shelter there. Docks in almost any portion of the St. John’s River can be productive. Moving incoming or outgoing tides are the most productive. Saltwater species have been present in the river all the way down to Green Cove Springs. We like to skip lures deep under the docks and move them slowly back out with the current. The key for us is to maximize the lure’s time under the dock as much as possible. This is not a time for quick retrieves. In fact, when the water gets as hot as it does during the late summer, it is best to slow your lure retrieves down to get more strikes from lethargic fish living in water with less saturated oxygen.
We continued to launch our kayaks before the sun came up to maximize productive topwater lure time, maximize fishing time before it got too hot and maximize fishing time before the storms rolled in. Those early launches almost always feature topwater lure fishing. The strikes can be spectacular. This was the case with the pictured gator Trout that was caught shortly after first light as the sun was rising. She missed the lure on her first violent strike. I have learned over the years to leave the lure in place when they miss it the first time. I then pause for a few seconds, to simulate a stunned baitfish, and begin my retrieve again. In this case she caught the hooks on the second strike and a lengthy battle ended with the fish securely and safely landed and released.
Lessons Learned
This month, I was reminded a tough lesson when fishing docks. We do not fish the docks of the main river that frequently because we prefer back water marsh fishing. Conditions were right to fish the docks and the fish were there. Although some quality fish were landed, the two best fish of the day were lost on one trip when the fish wrapped around dock pilings and cut me off. The lesson here is to take your heavier action rods and reels when dock fishing because you need to get big fish out to open water quickly to minimize the fish’s opportunity to break you off on the dock pilings. These fights are very different than fighting fish in an open creek or flat. I took my normal creek rod and reel set ups that day and it cost me my two best fish of the day.
Tackle and Equipment
The Ned rig produced the best fish under the docks. I alternated between ZMan and Yamamoto profiles with the pictured Yamamoto rig (in the mouth of the Redfish) being the top producer. The big Trout was caught on a pink Mirrolure Top Dog Jr. We both also caught a number of nice Trout this month on Mirrolure 17mr twitch baits.
Submitted by Domenic Paniccia and Ron Lendvay